Building My First PC - Help Please!

[Jaz]

OK. I'm going to do it. I'm about to start buying the components and building my first PC.

I'm pretty much a n00b at this, so any help is appreciated.

So if anyone could point me in the direction of guides, or share some experience with me, that would be great.

Also, if anyone has any ideas of the best components (and prices), please share all.

Cheers. And wish me luck.

 

[JinXD]

First of all AMD or Intel? If you've got the bucks go for an Athlon64, imo it's the best out there atm. Haven't built an athlon64 before, iirc there are two variants, Socket 754 and Socket 939. I believe the 939 is the one to go for.......

If you go the way of intel, I honestly don't have a clue. Someone else could help.....

EDIT: For components I usually shop at either ebuyer, or dabs.

 

[Niggy G]

Id go with an Athlon64, but i'd also go with a motherboard that supports PCI Express graphics cards.

At present there are no AMD motherboards that support PCI Express so I suggest waiting a month (or less) for this to happen.

My thoughts anyway :whistling

 

[Allnatural]

I actually got started by reading "Building a PC for Dummies." It only covered the basics of course, but it was enough to build and set-up my first computer (I've never bought a pre-assembled computer). A quick search will reveal numerous guides online. As for parts, I wouldn't go top-of-the-line, but choose parts that will give you room for expansion later. That'll require plenty of research (I like Anandtech), so take your time.

Once you have some parts in mind, feel free to post your choices and we'll praise or pooh-pooh them as necessary.

 

[Clements]

You can find nForce4 boards now and some people have them already, but they are very scarce. Building your own PC is so much better since you can customise your comp to your own individual needs.

My attitude to PC building is to buy a system and then keep adding to it afterwards when I can afford it.

 

[Remote]

Buy a mini mac

 

[Jaz]

Once you have some parts in mind, feel free to post your choices and we'll praise or pooh-pooh them as necessary.

When I said I was a totaly n00b, I wasn't lying.

I really haven't a clue where to start, but I'll do some research and report back.

 

[Jaz]

Just checked out the prices on the Athlon64, and it seems reasonable. And if it's arguably the best out there, lets assume I go with that.

Are there compatibility issuses with the rest of the components?

 

[Allnatural]

Just checked out the prices on the Athlon64, and it seems reasonable. And if it's arguably the best out there, lets assume I go with that.

Are there compatibility issuses with the rest of the components?

If you've settled on that processor, then the next step is to find some motherboards that support it. Make a list, and from that choose the board that has the features you want/need. Of course you'll have to consider compatibility. Will I need an AGP or PCI-express videocard? Will I need registered RAM (Older Athlon64's do)? Parallel or serial ATA hard drive?

Like I said, you're going to have to do some research, learn what is what. Good luck.

 

[Nighty0]

hmm.....

buy a SATA drive to install the system/apps (to launch more faster) and a regular ATA drive for the trashes (Mp3, Videos, etc)...

for mobo .... A8N-SLI, from Asus

vga: 6800GT

but the most important thing is the mobo.... choose one carefully, the resources and the slots for future upgrades and memory type that it uses, if you will choose DDR2 or stay with DDR1 400.....

 

[rcgamer]

make sure you get a good cooling solution. also get some thermal paste (arctic silver is the choice amongst those in the know.).

also a good case is important. you will probably want one with a psu of about 450-500 especially if you are going with a new 6 series graphics card.

 

[Eagle]

Actually don't choose the motherboard now, choose the other components (except maybe memory) first and then choose the motherboard then memory. The reason is you need to find what you need. Mainly you need to choose Graphics Card, hard drive, and processor first which the guys have already gotten you started on and then motherboard which supports those, then choose the best memory that fits your mobo. Things which you don't really have to worry about for compatibilty include audio cards (try not to get onboard audio, you can turn it off but its annoying anyway), modems, network cards, video capture cards, optical drives, standard floppy drives. Monitors have DVI or VGA but most DVI come with an adaptor for VGA and most vid cards now have a DVI plug anyway. Anything else external (printer, mouse, keyboard, scanner, etc) get USB and your safe but beware there is USB and USB 2. USB 2 devices will ONLY work on a USB 2 port, USB 1 devices will work on either.

 

[JinXD]

USB 2 devices will ONLY work on a USB 2 port

Not always the case, for example my usb2 external HDD works on usb1, only problem is it's dead slow at file transfer. To be safe though it's best to get usb2, most new motherboards have usb2 anyway....

 

[Eagle]

Not always the case, for example my usb2 external HDD works on usb1, only problem is it's dead slow at file transfer. To be safe though it's best to get usb2, most new motherboards have usb2 anyway....

Hmm, are you sure? Well anyway, your right about the motherboards having USB 2 so it really doesn't matter. You would probably know better than I since I have no experience with USB2 as of yet.

 

[sheik124]

why are you all bickering about USB? I'll PayPal 2 bucks to whoever finds a motherboard for an Athlon 64 that has USB 1.1 instead of USB 2.0, damn

Jaz, get a Socket 939 Athlon 64, most people agree that the Athlon 64 3200+ is the best bang for the buck
Wait a while until nForce 4 motherboards come down in price, and until PCI-E graphics cards are easier to find, or go with a 6600GT or something (easily found for under 200 USD, don't know about sterling). Grab at least a gig of ram, preferably something with 2-2-2 timings or 2-3-2 timings. Make sure that if you get an nForce 4 board, you get a PCI-E graphics card, and DDR ram, as well as a Socket 939 CPU, here's some linkage:

Athlon 64 3200+: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-500&depa=0
Chaintech nForce 4 Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-152-049&depa=0
Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=22-148-033&DEPA=0
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-355&depa=0
6600GT (with doom 3): http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-122-204&depa=0

 

[rcgamer]

pci express cards are very easy to find now. nvidia even launched those before the agp's

 

[Eagle]

why are you all bickering about USB? I'll PayPal 2 bucks to whoever finds a motherboard for an Athlon 64 that has USB 1.1 instead of USB 2.0, damn

Calm down, we weren't bickering about USB we were discussing its compatibility. Why don't you take a minute before posting to actually read.

 

[Eagle]

pci express cards are very easy to find now. nvidia even launched those before the agp's

You mean they launched the PCI-E version of their newer cards before they launced the AGP version right? The way you said that it sounds like your saying they launched PCI-E cards before AGP cards

 

[aprentice]

No pc is complete without this: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-145-074&depa=0

and dont forget the fastest ram: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-550&depa=0

 

[rcgamer]

You mean they launched the PCI-E version of their newer cards before they launced the AGP version right? The way you said that it sounds like your saying they launched PCI-E cards before AGP cards

lol, yeah, i figured everyone here was knowledgable enough to know what i was saying.